Cars in the Fast Lane

The Gaydon design center unveiled Aston Martin’s V12 Vantage RS Concept, which accelerates 0-62 mph/h in 4.0 sec.  Unveiled at the opening of their design center in Gaydon, Ulrich Bez told onlookers the 600 horsepower concept car reaches 160 kmh in about 8.5 seconds.  The Vantage reaches peak horsepower (600 hp) at 6250rpm, while 509 ft-lb of torque (690Nm) comes at 5000rpm.

With the ‘08 Motorsports season approaching, Porsche has upped the hp to 420 bhp from 400 for it’s 911 GT3 Cup.  It has the 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer engine developed in Weissach and is also based on the street-legal GT3.

The competition Porsche is around 40lbs lighter  and weighs about 2530lbs, making it an extremely light and agile contender.

Expect the 2009 Corvette to be powered by a supercharged version of the 6.2 Liter LS3 V8 which features a unique integrated twin intercooler that sits on top of the supercharger.

The engine is thought to be blue because of the “Blue Devil” moniker that the car is code-named.

Expect it to produce an excess of 650hp, although no official specifications have been released.

The new Skyline GTR $70,000-plus sports car powered by a 473-hp, 3.8-liter V-6 teamed with a six-speed automatic. It’s got a 0-62 time of only 3.5 seconds and only 1500 are expected to be sold in the US in the first year.

Originally, Nissan was going to try to stop people from selling their GTRs in the first year or risk voiding the warranty, but decided it wouldn’t be fair to people who really had to sell their cars. This means that people will try to buy and sell the GTR for profit.

They are also expecting to counsel dealers on pricing, but are powerless to stop dealers from marking up the cost of the car, because it’s an extremely hyped up car and in the fast year out is very desirable.

At the Los Angeles Motor Show, Subaru debuted it’s STi in North America and during the press conference Tim Colbeck, VP of Sales confirmed that pricing will start at $34,995 with orders starting from today.

The WRX STi is powered by a 2.5 liter turbocharged boxer engine churning out 305 hp, blasting it from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds.

Source: Worldcarfans